


Your Highness

by DigitBuster



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, i don't know what genre this is, takes place before the events of the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22180357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitBuster/pseuds/DigitBuster
Summary: "Petra, I told you. We are not strangers. You can call me by my name. By Edelgard."
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & Petra Macneary
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	Your Highness

It's a day like any other. The Little Princess and her Guard have come to her room again. It's more Edelgard than Hubert really, but they've come to her room to try and get her out of it. And Petra doesn't _hate_ that. No, she can't find it in herself to hate the way that Edelgard is trying to accommodate for her, but they always interrupt her. Well, again, it's really just Edelgard. Hubert doesn't really care about her. But he doesn't really care about anyone who isn't Edelgard. Petra doesn't really care about him either, but she knows better than to ignore his presence entirely. Hubert has an aura about him that makes her wary. He may not hate her for being from Brigid, but a moment relaxed around him could lead to her early death.

Edelgard is talking, because of course she is. She's talking, slow and deliberate, making sure Petra can understand what she's saying. She appreciates it in a way; Fodlani tongue is difficult to grasp, and Petra has to grasp it quickly if she's going to be respected in the Imperial Capital. But in that same appreciation she finds that she loathes it. She loathes that she can't understand quicker. That the Princess feels like she needs to lower herself in order to talk to her. That others will treat her like a child because she can't say a few words as quickly as they can.

Edelgard is asking if Petra wants to play chess. Petra doesn't like the game. She's only been here for a month, but she's never won it no matter how much she improves. Edelgard always wins, and when she does, she always has that proud smile on her face as if it means something. She hates that smile. She hates the feeling that she's being looked down on, even though Edelgard has insisted that she held no ill will towards her. And maybe she didn’t. But Petra couldn’t be sure. It was hard to take words at face value..

But she plays anyway, because she doesn't know if refusing would do her any good. So she nods and smiles the polite smile she was taught by her own caretakers, and responds with "Okay, your Highness." 

And there's something about that that Edelgard doesn't like. Something about it brings a frown to her face and a furrow to her brow. Petra doesn't know why, at first. She's not sure if she misspoke, or maybe she had made a face and was unaware.

But Edelgard simply crosses her arms with a pout. "Petra, I told you. We are not strangers. You can call me by my name. By Edelgard."

Oh, of course. She had been insisting that Petra call her by her name instead of her title. And Petra hadn’t, because she knows better. Whether she wanted to or not, respect was an important thing to show, _especially_ to a foreign power that were using her to hold her people hostage. Petra didn’t quite understand the scope of the situation, but she understood enough. If she were to carelessly become comfortable with Edelgard, enough to drop her title, the Fodlani could use that and twist it into any story they wanted. She wasn’t going to be fooled so easily.

“I cannot,” Petra replies, the words feeling clumsy on her tongue. “My language… not good. Saying your name… is not good.”

Edelgard furrows her brow in confusion, and Petra can see Hubert lift his in turn. The Brigid princess rises to her feet, placing her hand on her chest and bowing slightly.

“Your title has importance. I… must not ignore it. It shows… lack… a lack…”

“...A lack of respect?” Edelgard offers.

Petra nods, lifting her head. “I am not… wanting that.”

Edelgard furrows her brow again, her hand now on her chin. Petra can’t say she enjoys the look she’s receiving from both her _and_ Hubert, but she endures it. She just wants them both to leave. To drop this subject so she can continue studying their language so neither of them feel the need to speak so slowly to her--

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Petra blinks. Edelgard is smiling at her.

“For as long as you are staying with us, you are safe. We are equals. I won’t allow anyone to misunderstand you.”

There’s a silence after that. She’s safe here? _Here?_ Of all places?

The place she was forced to come to?

The place that’s threatening her country with her life?

The place whose princess is trying so hard to fool her? To make her feel comfortable? To have her grow an unnecessary attachment that could be used against her?

Edelgard says she’s safe _here?_

Petra can feel the corners of her lips twitch, threatening to turn downwards. Surely, Edelgard isn’t so oblivious as to suggest her presence here is _anything_ more than a way to keep Brigid in check? Did she expect gratitude for this gesture?

The thought makes her stomach twist in disgust.

But all she can do is smile. All she can do is nod as if this basic courtesy is enough to warrant all the appreciation she can muster. 

“Okay. You have… my gratitude.”

Edelgard smiles wider, her eyes sparkling with some sort of joy--

“Lady Edelgard.”

\--Only for her smile to falter slightly, the sparkle all but flickering away.

The Imperial Princess stares at her, an almost hurt look in her eyes. She then sighs with a shake of her head.

“That isn’t quite what I meant,” she begins to explain, a smile now playing on her lips. “But… it’s a step. You’re saying my name, at least.”

She is, and something twists in her stomach.

“I won’t force this anymore,” she continues, her smile taking on a quality that Petra couldn’t quite place. “But I do still want to play chess! Are you still willing?”

Petra nods, because she has to. She has to make sure the only things they have to say about her are good ones. She has to be as open and receptive as possible. She has to make sure that she was seen as welcoming. As amicable. Agreeable. Docile. 

But she couldn’t deny the bitterness she felt in her heart. She couldn’t deny how each smile, each set of honeyed words, each sugared lie… she couldn’t deny how they fanned the silent fury that burned dimly in her stomach. Edelgard’s words of safety… of them being considered equals? She could almost laugh.

A prisoner and their captor were never considered equal.

**Author's Note:**

> More hcs about Petra living in Enbarr, please...
> 
> Wrote this in a bolt of inspiration, enjoy it.
> 
> Slightly based on the fact that Petra only refers to Edelgard by a title when she's speaking to her.


End file.
